their child bring a service dog to school. fry of michigan has cerebral palsy and needed a service dog to help with daily activities, including retrieving dropped items, opening and closing doors, and taking her coat off. a lower court said the parents needed to first exhaust all other state administrative remedies under the individuals with disabilities act and the rehabilitation act. you can read more at the hill.com. during this congressional recess, democratic leaders nancy pelosi has helped several forms in her san francisco district to talk about health care law, republican efforts to repeal it. here's is a look from last saturday.

a day of action to preserve our care. this is absolutely essential because this is again, and assault, and assault on one of the most important rights, the right to good health. saidend martin luther king of all the forms of inequality, the injustice in health care is one of the most inhuman, inhuman . we know that. we know that. we will talk more about that, but we know this is a very important value to our country to be respectful of meeting the needs of the american people. in the course of the morning on the republican plan and how that is really so and we arequestion, for the affordable care act. we want to see them come up with something that does not diminish

what our goals were in the affordable care act. those goals were to expand coverage to as many people as possible in our country, to improve benefits for everyone, and to lower the cost. so it is not just about the 20 islion people, actually it 20,400,000 people, as of today, who had health care insurance who would not have had it before . it is also about the 155 million people who get their benefits through the workplace and expanded benefits that they have, whether it is no pre-existing condition being a very to insurance, whether it is no lifetime or annual limits on the coverage they receive, their children being able to sit on their policy until 26 years old, whether being a woman is no longer a pre-existing medical condition.

[applause] our whether it is insisting health insurance companies spend 80% of the money they received on the health care of their policyholders, and not on advertising and ceo pay. in terms of community health centers, and essential part of that would be overturned with the repeal of the affordable care act. the list goes on and on. but a new number i want you to carry with you and use is 27%. at this conference yesterday, i heard a doctor make a presentation. under the age of 65 -- not on medicare, under the on of 65 -- will be insurable because they have pre-existing medical conditions. the cost will be so

astronomical, it will not be able to happen. that is not what our country is about. out, i say, the republicans want to make america sick again. we will not let that happen. so what can we do about it? everybody sees the urgency. many of you want to take responsibility as you see that urgent need. we have this opportunity to have people take another look at the affordable care act, to dispel what they had heard, misrepresentations they had heard before. to that end, i'm honored that we have two special guests to talk about this from their experience. secretary diana dooley is the california health and services secretary appointed by governor jerry brown. brown in hisvernor first term, has been involved in the private sector, the nonprofit sector. she knows the health issue from every angle. when she speaks on the subject, everyone listens.

she is an expert, and california has led the way -- cover california has led the way in being an example to the country. thank you, secretary julie, for being with us. [applause] before i bring her up, i want you to know who else is with us. ehrlich is the ceo of the zuckerman san francisco general hospital. she hasny occasions hosted us there for us to make presentations, hear stories, and the rest. she is on the front line of providing health care in our community. she has been a tremendous leader. her background serves us all well. we are all here, again, to make sure health care is viewed as a right for all americans, not just for the privileged few. dr. ehrlich has dedicated her life to that. so let's first bring up secretary dooley with our

respect for governor brown who 1970's.d her, in the all these years later. her experience is vast. we are delighted she is with us today. secretary dooley. [applause] >> thank you so much. we are also lucky to have later loc for her entire career but never more so than now. thank you so much. [applause] secretary dooley: and i do feel very humbled to be with you today at this really important time. through the leadership of the people of the people of california we have been at the forefront of making the affordable care act real for californians, and showing the rest of the country what can

happen when we put aside partisan differences. california has understood for many years that we have challenges in the delivery system. while the coverage expansion has been the primary focus of the work we have done, and certainly, i'm very proud of the work covered california has done to add nearly a million and a half people to coverage that would not have had it, but also through our medicaid expansion where almost 4 million people that could not get coverage before, are now covered across california. but this has happened because we have worked very hard for many, many years to do this. it was enacted in california with the leadership of the congress but with a republican governor. we locked arms and made it work in california with people like dr. like in our hospitals, in our communities, with our county eligibility workers, with our community clinics.

i could go on and on. the way we have changed health care in california is really nothing short of dracula's. the brookings institute just last week did a survey of the state that had embraced to some degree the affordable care act and said california was leading the nation. don't get me wrong, i don't have a mission accomplished sign above us. there is a lot of work to do, and we all know that there are access problems and challenges with relationships between primary care and specialty care, and hospital care and outpatient care. i think what obamacare, and the rhetoric around this, gave a name to problems and health care that did not have anything to do with the affordable care act. the affordable care act was to address those problems and solve those problems. and we have. we have done it in so many ways. in the employer-sponsored care, the premium cost is lower than

it has been in 15 years. the trend before the aca was about 8.5% premium increases. since the affordable care act, those premium increases have held at about or .5% over that over that same period. we have had an average of 7% increases even in the covered california exchange. until ourer 5% one-year blip this year. so we are changing the way health care is delivered, we are improving the efficiency and the quality, transparency. we have essential benefits across all of the products that people can understand. to, believe me, it is hard fight with understanding how to get the care we need, and there is more work to do. but we certainly cannot go backwards, as the repeal, and even the replace language -- and

i am working right now just to keep my people running the programs that they have, because if we get distracted analyzing every tweet and every possibility that is out there, they are completely irreconcilable. if you feel confused when you read the news every day, it is for good reason. you cannot reconcile what they say about wanting to have better care and lower cost and more health. that is what the affordable care act is. it is sort of sad that the people who are getting it right we the comedians who say have that, it is called the affordable care act. in the six years i have spent making it work, believe me, this is a team sport. it has involved a lot of people across a lot of sectors in this. it also is not the most radical

of democratsot wanted. many of us were single-payer advocates. many of us still are. [applause] but we have a plan that is working. we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. ins plan was romney care massachusetts, shorts and anger care in california -- schwarzenegger care in california before it was obamacare. the irony of it being opposed by the people who designed it is beyond me. i cannot understand it. but my job is to follow the law. we have a law on the land, it's working in california, and it will continue to work if people across this country on this national day of action will get through the rhetoric, to their reality.

because what israel is people are getting the care that the president has talked about wanting. it better, iake will be there every day to try to make it better. what i have seen so far will not make it better. we need the kind of action that you represent year and across this country. i was born and raised in the san joaquin valley of california. i know how disadvantaged communities live and work. i had no health insurance myself until i had a job after college. california valley of has benefited perhaps more than any other region of california. yet, we have elected leaders in that part of the state that are not acknowledging the benefit to their people. so we need to help our friends and colleagues and neighbors across the state and across this country understand what the affordable care act really is, not what it has been represented to be. leader pelosi, i cannot thank

you enough. i am here to be your partner to do everything we can to make it work. [applause] speaker pelosi: thank you, madam secretary. remembertant thing to about the affordable care act, medicare, medicaid, and the affordable care act are wedded. india for the cure as we prolong the life of medicare, we began closing the donut hole for the cost of prescription drugs. we have the free checkup to keep seniors healthier sooner. the whole bill is about prevention and wellness. about a healthy america, not just health care in america. wellness even in advance of that here in the medicaid piece of it is very central. thought of to is be for poor children and their families, and a large number of beneficiaries of medicaid are

children, a much smaller percentage of the money is spent on children. 50% of the funds are spent in nursing homes, on seniors in nursing homes, comes from medicaid. if i said medicare, forgive me. it comes from medicaid. a lot of the long term care, whether it is in a nursing home or day care for seniors, etc., comes from medicaid. and the governor of ohio, republican john kasich, said, thank god for medicaid. that is going to help me fight the opioid epidemic. it's about addiction, opioids, and the rest of them. [applause] so we do have some republican governors who are helping us who have expanded medicaid in their to protecting us medicaid. because they are really out to get medicaid with a cap, block

grant, and the rest. they are out to get medicare. they have a provision in their budget to remove the guarantee of medicare. medicare is a guarantee. remove the guarantee, you have something else. i thank the california alliance for retired americans are going to the republican districts to make these points as well. [applause] so with that, it's now my pleasure to bring up dr. ehrlich . to say one word about her and the work that she does, it is about respect, respect for the patients she sees. it is about treating them as if they are the most privileged person in america. you know what? her care for those people mix the privileged person in america healthier, because including everyone in the loop, we learn so much. we care so much. it teaches us a lot about how to

keep people healthy. that is what they do at the zuckerberg san francisco general. thank you, dr. ehrlich for being here. [applause] dr. ehrlich: thank you, leader pelosi. i appreciate your leadership on this issue. good morning, everybody. i am susan ehrlich, the ceo of zuckerberg san francisco general hospital. i'm so privileged to work with 5500 people every day who worked for the department of public health, university of california san francisco, to take care of the more than 100,000 patients we see every year at zuckerberg san francisco general. i'm honored to address the issue of critical concern, to everyone, especially our organization.

what happens to our patients and thepublic hospital when affordable care act, if the affordable care act is repealed? we all know there's a lot of uncertainty right now. we don't know what the outcome will be, but we know there will be change. leadera dooley and a pelosi have said, the benefits of the aca has been felt by our nation, by our state, and by our entire community here in san francisco. ofcalifornia, the expansion medicaid under the affordable care act has created a pathway for an additional 4 million californians lowest income residents to have access to health insurance. formally people. -- 4 million people. [applause] right here in san francisco, an haveional 95,000 people been enrolled in medicaid since

the passage of the affordable care act. [applause] that brings the total membership meaning,0 people, here, a quarter of san franciscans are covered just by the medi-cal program. and we are a healthier city as a result. fewer san franciscans are delaying needed care now that they can have a primary care doctor, like me. primary care and simple disk is high-quality providers and hospitals. more san franciscans now assess their health care as good or better. we have made such great progress, and that is why we are so concerned about this effort to repeal. so what are the effects of appeal to our patients? the urban institute and the robert wood johnson foundation report the number of uninsured people in the u.s. would rise by 24 million by 2021, an increase of 81%. millionuld be 14.5

fewer people with medicaid coverage in that same year. so these people, newly frozen out of the copperheads of benefits they have today, would unnecessarily get sicker, they would not go to seek medical care until they are acutely ill, they would find medical attention through our emergency department which is already full and requires more wait time, less effective for chronic conditions, less efficient, and costlier. why would we want to do this? no congressional proposals to replace the aca will improve our health care system if they threatened to have our most vulnerable citizens revert to andg without insurance, doing without routine care, in order to pay for food, housing, and other basic needs. that is an unfair and undue burden for our patients.

putal of the aca will also a strain on all hospitals, and particularly, our public safety net hospital throughout the hospital -- zero at the country and in california. that hospitals could face a net negative impact of billion dollars. the scale of this loss would harm many hospitals, and in particular, make many public safety net hospitals, like ours, unsustainable. the loss would mean cutting services, shortening hours, and ultimately, seeing fewer patients. america's essential hospitals, the organization which represents safety net hospitals throughout the country, says the loss of the aca coverage could result in on company -- 54ompensated care costs of $.2 billion over a 10-your period. these losses will be devastating

to all hospitals, all public hospitals, especially those with or localources investment in care, like those in the central valley, or the southern part of the state. one thing that is really clear is that at zuckerberg san francisco general, our mission has not changed. our mission is to provide our patients and our community health care with compassion and respect, regardless of income or insurance, or immigration status , sexual orientation, religion, or national origin. [applause] and >> and we have our california experience here leading up to a

day of action. areaof them are in the bay , they are in the east bay. they are having a combined event and they are here. theerday, we saw a few of members who are across the country and rural areas. what the doctor said about this is people in these rural areas is that they are unsustainable without this legislation. that also relates to the economy of the region. to track new investments in their community. me, i amaid to , theyng jobs to virginia could not give the medicaid expansion because of a republican legislature. i went to bring the jobs i am

you are to your area, not going to an area that has a functioning hospital. our members from rural areas spoke to that yesterday on the phone. nothing is more eloquent than a owne of his or her constituents. what can you do? i thank you for being here. friends in tell your republican districts to call their congressman. most persuasive argument of all, i want you to hear the story of what the affordable care act made in some of our guests. medi-cal and medicaid

user. please share your story with us. [applause] women get that up a little bit. thank you so much and making this happen for everyone. hello, excuse me. thank you for everything you are doing and zuckerberg hospital. [applause] this is a little weird, i want to make sure you can hear me. i am 51 years old, i am hiv-positive for the last 23 years. i had full-blown aids for the 17 of those years. i am a representative of the aarp today.

we are allake sure on the same page, going forward and getting the things done that we want. thank you also much for being here today. at one point in time, i never thought i would be standing on stage, when i went into the hospital. i had pneumonia and a week later i went into a coma. i spent about three and a half months into the hospital, it to me about one year to recover and get all of my functions back, i had to learn how to write and walk again. i had to learn how to be busy again. they got me volunteering around the city. had issues with my back, i found out i have deterioration of the bone. due to the medication they had the cap me breathing.

i had to have my hips replaced. second, third, fourth, and fifth. it has been an interesting journey, trust me. knee replaced, both shoulders, i have had to know surgeries. it has been an extremely exhausting journey. i have made it through that. agencies thatse have been able to give us this needed support, i have been able to take care of these bills. it works. here i am today, standing here. [applause] it has been a long journey, it really has. i have been through it.

that i amt to say .ere to support the aca i want to make sure we can support everything that is needed also, one in four beneficiaries has an income below $4000. that has stop them from paying their bills and taking their medication to survive. it is going to be very difficult for that to happen. this proposal goes directly against president trump statement, to protect medicaid, to protect medicare, and everything there too. thank you. [applause] >> when he talks about what they

want to do to cut back on medicaid and medi-cal here in california, remember that enable to the 400 a tax cut wealthiest families in america. of $7ould get a tax cut million. a year. dna, tax cutsir for the rich, wherever the money has to come from. that is not what our country is about. thank you, troy, for sharing your story. frome are going to hear stephen, a aca recipient. [applause] >> i, my aca story is a little

bit different than what you may think of when you hear the affordable care act. you may think about the implication of losing coverage and what it would do to your physical health. the aca has played a different role in my life. aboutere to tell you mental health and addiction. this was my sober anniversary, something i didn't think that was possible but due to the affordable care act it was. and waswas unemployed having a relapse of alcohol on new year's eve. so desperate that i was at the point of killing myself. i decided i was going to try my hardest to get sober one last time. of the aca i was still covered by my parents insurance.

before that i would not have been. i could afford a copayment on treatment. psychiatricultiple sessions. my doctor was ready to dismiss me, and said i was able to stay as long as i could. i was in treatment for a total of 73 days and i have been sober since 2010. [applause] during my seven years of sobriety, i have been program director of a nonprofit, my masters of social work, worked serving minority communities, serving clients with hiv/aids.

as well as working at a nonprofit that has worked with youth departments. we helped organize the women's march in san francisco. now, i feel politics is where i can hear -- have my voice heard more strongly. [applause] so if anyone in this room has a tip how to make the transition, i would love to talk to you. [applause] care have73 days of translated into seven years of being a productive member of society. the aca is also meaningful because my uncle helped write it. was president of the american health administration when it passed he sent me an email last remembersng he

working with him fondly. am speaking about his legacy and the legacy of the obama administration to fight for me and for everyone. [applause] >> thank you very much. this issue of addiction and a partism is a very much of when we passed the mental health parity bill. treated with health issues. on the drug side, not as a criminal justice issue. [applause] -- we had a meeting of 100 representatives of different groups a few weeks

ago. when we talked about mental health and when we talked about our veterans, the bullet disabilities, we came together not just abouts the aca it is about the mental health parity act. it is about social security, it is about medicare and medicaid o. the connection of all of that, that our veterans are very much a part of. i thought it was an unwise been in some of those military actions. [applause] as i said too many of the women who marched, it did not dampen anyone's spirits. [applause] , one of those was

to protect our health care. women have marched for progress and must run for office. [applause] have a team, medi-cal and aca recipient. thank you for your time. [applause] >> good morning everybody. , thank you for inviting me to speak. thank you for your work. i was born in peru.

that was 29 years ago when i came here. i come from a family emphasis, i have worked in families for 20 years. of two.other he is 11 years old, my other is 18. son who was five was diagnosed with a severe asthma case. at the same time, i lost my job. that, my children and i lost our health insurance. because ofned was his pre-existing condition he or not able to get insurance it would be extremely expensive.

worried, i could not sleep at night. i was thinking about the high --t of medication, trance prescriptions for medications. all of that. i was able to get insurance for my family despite his asthma thanks to the affordable care act. [applause] thank you my friend who encouraged me to apply. up.s giving i did it. his extensive medication, they were all taken care of. seeing my son fighting for his more tolerableen

knowing that he at least has health insurance. able to buyas insurance for my whole family undercover california. my family is covered under medicaid, william had a project two years ago. it was about who has had the most positive impact on your life. he said president obama. [laughter] [applause] obama saved my life, he said that. republicans want to repeal this, my son, my family, millions of people will not be able to

afford treatment and medication. it will be devastating for the country, i want to thank you for your leadership. thank you. [applause] >> that, children learning, has been something that happened all of that. that is very much a connection .o parents i will tell the president what you said. that would be president obama. [laughter] [applause] some of you sent in comments and questions that you wanted us to be aware of gre.

you all know dan from our staff. [applause] we will take a few comments and questions. yes? hi, nice to meet everybody. , thea constituent affordable care act saved my life. both over and i are 50 and have pre-existing conditions. we are basically uninsurable. even ifbeen turned down we could get health care, it would be so expensive we could not afford it. we were thrilled when covered california came into being. we signed up right away. ago, i had an abnormal mammogram. i would not have been able to

get one with out the aca. my doctor arranged several mammograms and a needle biopsy. days andew really long then radiology told me i have cancer. was able to get care, i have written some things down, let me see. there were seven sites of the cancer, it was small, but there were seven. they were growing. if i had to wait even another sure what would have happened. , i had a full health

care's plan with the facilities. totaled $250,000, without insurance we would've had to declare bankruptcy. we could not afford the medication, but most importantly my cancer was caught in time. the aca saved my life. what can we do to prevent repeal? and thank you. [applause] >> we will get that -- to that. 27%.goes back to that under therican people -- these are people under 65

will be uninsurable if they repeal the affordable care act. a mammogram just one year earlier saved her life and improved her health. be doing,at we should making people healthier. we will talk in a little bit about people sharing the stories with republican members because they have to to hear and expel andrepresentation characterization that others have put out. thank you for your story. we are not going to hear from april. good morning, everyone. i am here representing the learning program. servicesmobile health to low income preschoolers in the bay area. we have a family to tell the

story about how we touched their life. before i turn the mic over, health care is the foundation of everything. if a child cannot see well in preschool, they do not develop as fully as they could with children that have asthma, they will not develop fast. these are all issues of productivity and being able to live full lives. these will help outcomes for everyone. haverms of what people went through with the aca, there are incredible stories. i am going to turn it over to carl. [applause] hi, i am a father.

,. come up here. i want everyone to give miss nancy a round of applause. [applause] >> she has to come appear longer that tells the story. all right. >> as much as i did not want to , april's program came to her school. they were doing basic outreach, they noticed my daughter has astigmatism. with herelped us

glasses. help the color and shape, they were able to give her real comfort and getting her eyes checked. appreciate to say i this program and for miss nancy. andst wanted to stand here say thank you for everything that is happening. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you for with that association does for so many children. [applause]

sasha, is going to tell her story about medicare and medicaid now. [indiscernible] i can live in my home in the community. it woulda is repealed, be like the death of me. i campaigned with hillary.

be --ld [applause] >> thank you so much for your comments and reminding us that there are nearly 400,000 people in california who are looked able to live in their homes with service.use live this is a part of what we are fighting for. we are trying to live independently and live in our home homes. they queue. [applause] >> what i talked about earlier with the funding, there is an

important thing to note that it also funds the ability for people to have senior care and daycare. much for being with week youw later this are going to talk about the ban and the raids. from california retired lives. >> i want to thank you for that call out. over one million people, seniors people with toabilities, we look forward representing two or 3 million to join us. considering the alternative

that is a good idea. [laughter] question is a question you can already answer. am pleased to live in california because california -- [applause] a dam.nia gives we were worried about were -- raising the age for medicare. program that allows need too age, if they go to assisted living, it allows them to go. there is a way for them to live in dignity. , we took people there. , we took 1000 people to

bakersfield. they had asked for a meeting in mccarthy, they turned up the lights and locked the door. we went there to show the people of bakersfield that they need to know this. of them are onge medicare and medicaid. dowants to voucherizing block rates. valley,up the central going all over the state and going to republicans about what they need to do to represent their constituents. [applause] 400 richest people.

i have no question for you. [laughter] thank this to ,onderful hospital that helped i want to thank planned parenthood for doing a great job. [applause] am so dam happy that i am on medicare. it has helped me live. we can take back the house then n. just so you know, the organization she wanted you young folks to aspire to join is the california alliance of retired americans. but you are giving good advice to the question many have asked.

what can we do? the most effective use of everyone's time is to communicate with constituents in republican districts. again, i say nothing is more eloquent to a member of congress than the voice of his or her own constituents. they have to hear from their own constituents and organizations in their districts. they have constituents in every single republican district. rep. pelosi: and their voices must he heard, their stories told. let me go to a point here. medicare has made, between social security and medicare, seniors have been lifted up out of poverty remarkably. not everybody and not completely . but it has been in a transformative way. medicare being so essential to the health and financial

security. when medicare was debated in the johnson administration, republicans did not support it, just as i may have a moment between differentiation between party at republicans, some of them eventually voted at the end, but they supported every amendment to block, to block, to block. in the 1990's, they gained control of the house, the congress, and newt gingrich's motto was medicare should weather on the vine. now that is their attitude -- medicare should wither on the vi ne. that is their attitude. this time when they take back ryanongress and in the budget, they put in a provision to take away the guarantee of medicare and to voucherize it. remove the guarantee, which is to do away with medicare. in terms of the subject, that is

a fight that we will make and that the public is with us on. and i have said too many times, president lincoln said public sentiment is everything. with it, you can accomplish almost anything. without it, almost nothing. and he had some pretty big, dayy lifts to do in his when he said that it you heard during the affordable care act, when republicans were misrepresenting what it was about, they said, government, keep your hands off my medicare. well, it is a government program. [laughter] now, these same people who opposed the affordable care act, have to know that it will undermine its solvency and benefits, but not only that. coupled with that is the ryan budget, which they all voted for, including -- i do not know if pence was there at that

time, but he was there to vote to privatize social security, which is your other point. on the social security part, we just have to fight that tooth and nail. we want to improve the benefits of social security. we will need your help with all of that, as well. [applause] brenda is going to share her story, mission neighborhood health center. the health centers have been such an important part of all of this. pelosi, for, leader being a champion for community health for so many years. as you know, the affordable care act really brought a lot of additional dollars to community health centers. today,ring this story one of the things it brought was actually dollars so that we could integrate mental health services into primary care. do many community health centers

were able to add that. [applause] >> you were a champion for us years ago in being able to extend that funding that was attached to the affordable care act, and that is fur to expire -- that is due to expire this fiscal year. my question to you is, would you be able to expand that funding again for community health centers? rep. pelosi: thank you it yes, we were able to put that into the bill, to put the funding in. that was a big thing. the community health centers were a very essential part of what we were doing in the affordable care act. if we do not have a health system, or starting from scratch, you could taper the country, carpet the country with community health centers, and that would be the first line of defense, and it would be a very positive contribution to the health and well-being of the american people. so thank you for what you do. in the affordable care act, we did two things, not only

increase money for programming, but we put money in for bricks and mortar so that we could have more community health centers, more places. we were able to do what we did -- two yearsago in ago in a bipartisan way because we had some leverage. helpful, wanted was not something we wanted, too, but we were able to do that. big we have good bipartisan support for -- i think we have good bipartisan support for doing -- well, we did it. this is a new congress and president, so the leverage is on, and who knows what what's his name is -- [laughter] rep. pelosi: and i use this next "thinking," but it is very important, and there

are enough republicans, i think. but public sentiment, they have hear from the community health centers in their area. another blessing of the affordable care act is that some of these republicans ignored or did not recognized but would be very much effective if we repealed the afford will care act, but we do need the funding. so thank you for your question. i do not know if there are any other questions that we heard before. yes, ma'am? >> hi, how are you? good morning, everybody. is, the fight, we know, is on. in less than a month, we have all been assaulted. the next step is going to measure the next four use for all of us in this room and the people who were not able to make it into these room -- this room. as a leaders, we are here with you. to tell usng to you

the streets and the action on the streets is working. besides knocking down the stores on the republicans in our districts, what else do we need to prepare ourselves for? on the immigration front, we are being assaulted. muslims are being assaulted. our health care is being taken from us. and they do not seem to give a damn. the president is not acting like the president, and we are all looking to you. and i know that is a lot of weight on your shoulders, but we are all looking to you which direction to go in. there is no longer left, no longer write, only survival, and that is the -- there is no longer left, no longer right, only survival, and that is the mode we are all in. we represent the janitors here in san francisco, and for us, that health care literally is to live or die. rep. pelosi: thank you.

thank you very much. thank you. [applause] rep. pelosi: shall we take a couple questions, and then i will respond? >> hi, good morning. havea psychiatrist, and i the great honor to be a psychiatrist at haight-ashbury free clinic. [cheers and applause] >> which is part of a beautiful nonprofit organization, which includes all the walden house programs, which do so much in this city and throughout california for people who are dealing with substance abuse issues, addiction issues, mental health issues, formerly incarcerated individuals. and i just wanted to mention the large percentage of our patients who are homeless or who have very severe housing insecurity, as well as a large number of our patients who were previously

incarcerated and are in very tenuous situations. i am interested in our patients who have serious mental illness as a psychiatrist. i wonder if you can talk about what you for c in terms of parity -- what you are seeing in terms of parity for mental health diagnoses and substance abuse diagnoses moving forward? did you speak specifically to that, please? rep. pelosi: really appreciate it. two different questions. i will take them both. thank you for your question. here is the thing, you know, what can we do? as you said so clearly, this is it. this is it. they have pushed everything to the limit. there is a sense that we do not even have shared values, and i hate to say it that way. now i have always granted people there position. i respect you. you are this place on the

political spectrum, i am this place. how can we work together to get something done for the american people? as -- out of a question that this person who occupies the white house on occasion, from one day or the question is he is no different from the republicans in congress. there is not anything that he has said or done that they have not done the sooner, whether it is anti-immigrant, anti-gun safety, a woman's right to choose, denial about climate in some lgbt -- cases, he might even be better. so god for bid. he has not made his statement about lgbt yet. they make a statement every day. make sure you understand that when people say to make, how

long it is it going to take a republicans in congress to just say we have had it with trump? i say, why would they say that? he is the enabler of everything -- let me say before i go on with that, perhaps our special guest would not like to be here during this part. [laughter] rep. pelosi: let me move to the second question, and then we can give you your ability to stay or go because of the organization. ok, on your own time. the mental health parity act, which we passed when we had the majority, was very important. we did it in a bipartisan way. republicans who worked with us said, when they, the republicans, had the majority, they cannot even get a hearing on mental health parity, whether it was mental health or other manifestations, addiction, are alcohol, they cannot get a hearing. joe patrick kennedy, springing

from his own experience, senator kennedy in the senate, the two of them were very instrumental in shaping the bill. i would have done more. anytime you our comrades in the senate, it is more diminished than where we are, which is really the rough-and-tumble. anyway, we carry that over into the affordable care act. but more has to be done. it is definitely under siege when they go after the affordable care act. 100 groups,the there was a coming together in terms of veterans, people with mental challenges one way or another, people with disabilities, cost of prescription drugs -- there is a consistency, a connection, there that we have to recognize. suffice to say that it is important. let me say this one thing that

somebody said the other day, and i thought it was so good. she had alcoholism and her family, and she said my father was in alcoholic in this or that, and it caused great damage to our family. but if they saw my father going into a bar, nobody would say to go arrest him because he is an alcoholic going into a bar. but if another family member had his own edition or her own addiction, which might be drug including opioids, which spring from overuse of prescription drugs, they see people using drugs and want to arrest them. and it is just the complete opposite of what we should be doing. so it is about issues that are in the bill, the health bills, in our authorization bill, but it is also in terms of issues we relate to in the criminal justice system and the rest. treatment on-demand, prevention, and the rest, what we are doing would have been the exact opposite if we treat people who

use drugs as criminals rather than people with an illness, an addiction. that is part of that thinking. [applause] rep. pelosi: ok, another question, but let me just say, there's nothing that we have seen -- people say, well, we have a responsibility to find common ground where we can cooperate, let as engage, confront, this is part of resistance recess. this recess is a resistance recess. we may not come here in that spirit, but this is carved out, this kind of action. because they have -- nothing that i have put forward, and we could go into specifics about the ban and the rest of that if you wish. do you have a microphone over here? nancy.

i'm robin. i am going to ask a question that was asked by republican senator during watergate. what did the president know, and when did he know it? [laughter] >> i really am very concerned. it is not health care, it is my mental health, many of our mental health, about what transpired during the election, campaign, what the connection was to trump and his cronies and the russians. so i think this is something that really needs to look -- to be looked into. let pelosi: first, me thank olga at sciu and our friends in the labor movement for the actions, and thank you to ashley, as well. as far as the labor movement is

concerned, nothing less is at stake but collective bargaining, osha, nlrb, national labor relations board, any of the kinds of things -- raising minimum wage. imagine if somebody at the head of the labor department did not support raising minimum wage in our country. let me tell you something, if we did one thing, and that is from the chairman of the san francisco labor council here, thank you -- there are a few one things we could do, but if we could just pay people a living wage, a living wage, it would do more to lift up our economy, instead of putting billionaires in office. epa so many times, in denial about climate. a woman over the department of education who does not believe

in public education. these are not people who share our values, plain and simple. but there are a very specific things they have in mind to do, and we have some specific things we would like to see. if you want to grow the economy, trickle-down is a proven failed system. tax breaks to the rich, it trickles down, maybe creates jobs. if it does, good. if it doesn't, so be it. that is the free market. they have their hands in their pockets for every tax break they can get. i do not know what his free-market about that. the small child tax putit would do more to money in the pockets of families that need to spend, inject demand into the economy, and the rest. we could use the tax code to help working families in our country become middle-class families and the rest.

but if you do not increase the purchasing power and the consumer confidence of working families, you are never going to have the growth in the economy except a bigger differential between the rich and the poor in our country, undermining the middle class. there is a lot at stake. understand this about them, it is in their dna, tax cuts for the rich. my motivation when i wake up in the morning, one in 25 children in america lives in poverty i cannot stand up. they wake up and say that we need more tax cuts for the rich. two different places. what i love about the house democrats, we have shared values. we are there for working families in our country, and we know that this is a fight. so this is not about i respect the office of the president. i do not know that the current occupant respects the office of the president.

i do not know if he does. whato on the subject of did what's his name know and when did he know it -- [laughter] rep. pelosi: this is a question we have been asking, and maybe this is a good time to say this to you. all of our members in their capacity, whether it is the ways and means committee going after -- show us your tax returns, show us your tax returns. [cheers and applause] rep. pelosi: it is only to abide the law, which is part of how nixon came down. in the law, it says one prison, two people, but it requires one of them, the chairman of the finance committee or the ways and means committee in the house can ask the secretary of the treasury for the tax returns of the president. bey can ask, and that would

brady and the house or hatch in the senate. brady is also the chair of the joint tax committee, and that person can do it, but he is the same person. overlyf the joint tax, that person would do it. takes a majority of the members of that committee to make the tax returns public. only six members on the committee, four republicans, two democrats. so we need just two republicans, and that is one of the actions taking place in the districts of those republicans. show us the tax returns. april 15, every week you will see on the floor -- this week we are out for presidents week, but following that, every week you will see

that this issue has been worked on for a very long time. there are members making sure this is in front of their constituents. your member of congress is standing in the way of our seeing his tax returns. they important? well, because it is tradition and he should do it out of respect for the people who elected him. but it is also important because it is an answer to some of the questions that you asked. this is the president here we have been calling everyday. this takes us to other committees. the ways and means committee, show us your returns. elijah cummings, he has been asking for investigation of comey and what he did on the election. [applause] rep. pelosi: and supposedly that is taking place, but nobody can know or whatever. and the inspector general

supposedly is investigating what comey did. that is a little bit off the subject here, but it still takes us to the question, what do the russians have on president -- i cannot say those two words in a row -- on the president? what do they have on him? we want an investigation, an accelerated investigation, of the personal, the financial, and the political connection of trump to the russians. so that is what is happening on that front. on the intelligence committee, i think you have seen adam schiff of california, who has been magnificent, putting the questions out there in the committee. they are in a little better place now to investigate the russian connection. there is a member of the intelligence committee who is

from our region, who has a future forum of millennials, listening to their concerns, but he has a bill calling for an outside, independent commission to investigate all of them. of the democrats signed onto that. now we just have one republican, so it is now bipartisan. one republican. [laughter] tellselosi: but that you some of them are getting on the nervous side. in congressublicans afraid of? they investigated hillary clinton to the hilt. and now, see no evil, hear no evil or, whatever -- they say a lot of evil. but they won't do that. ynn, aen you see fl

totally inappropriate present to be national, so thank god he is gone. but by whose authority did he have those conversations, and who did he report to? why is this important? it is about our national security. tost, they take an oath protect and defend the american people and the constitution of the united states. and so you have the president coming into office, flirting with the idea of lifting sanctions on russia for their aggressive behavior, lifting the sanction that president obama allafter it was declared by of the intelligence agencies except the fbi, and we will go into that in a moment, all of the intelligence of highest confidence that the russians disrupted our elections. president obama placed sanctions on the successor to the kgb,

which was the agency that was hacking our election. he placed sanctions on that. that was the conversation between flynn and the russian of us that are. and what did the trump administration do? lift the sanction on the successor of the kgb for disrupting our election? he has already lifted that. and that is terrible. but lifting the sanctions for their aggressive behavior and to europe and ukraine and so on is dangerous. it undermines our connection to nato and all of the countries that have been suffering pain for having sanctions, and now he is like i don't know. and the talking to trump, whatever his name is putin, talking to putin, about the stark treaty is something that -- just, he does not even get it.

he is saying now he is going to accelerate the development of nuclear weapons. this is a very dangerous person. why is he doing this? and what is his connection to the russians that is making him do it? getting back to your question, when you said you were a psychiatrist, i thought you were going to tell me about a letter i have been receiving from psychiatrists all over the country, from harvard, from yale, about -- [laughter] let me put it another way. let me put it another way. committee,n of the mr. cummings, you know who he is. a couple weeks ago he was interviewed by a washington post editorial board, and at that

meeting, he said that he is hatsidering legislation t requires anyone who has access to the nuclear codes be subject to a mental health examination. [cheers and applause] rep. pelosi: so we are like, ok. sign me on your bill. this might be an all-time first. mr. cummings wants to be on the bill. i do. it has not really developed. yesterday he said all candidates for president, all candidates should be subjected to them. but the fact is that these psychiatrists are sending around this letter saying you cannot officially issue a diagnosis unless you have examined the person, but by all appearances, there is a grandiosity, a narcissism, behavior that would

reflect, without stigmatizing, but to say, should he have access to this nuclear codes? and they are asking us to set up a meeting with him so he can get a mental health examination. well, you know that is not going to happen. he is not going to subject and some to that. but this is a very strange situation. it is very, very strange. well, someone shouted out a word here. he may take care of everything himself. but in any event, let me go to another subject because it was mentioned, the ban. when the president issued the ban, he undermined our values as a country, who we are. what he did was immoral. it was immoral. [applause] whether a not, whether or not he comes up with

something that may pass muster constitutionally does not make it any less immoral. it is not the right thing to do. so now they are doing the raids, and we met with the head, the acting ice head yesterday. a couple days before, he was supposed to meet with the congressional hispanic caucus. canceled the meeting and said i will not be having any more meetings unless they are bipartisan. so the speaker set up a bipartisan meeting in which the administration would determine which democrats came to the meeting. you kidding- are me? this is so out of the question. we pushed it forward and had good representation. but this bigger just said, i am

having this number, you are having that number, bring whoever you want. the administration cannot determine who will meet. -- that meeting we had yesterday that meeting was unique in that it is never happened before and it will never happen again. but it was an opportunity to see what their standard was. they are saying we're doing what obama did, if they committed a crime, this or that. the crimes they are defining, it could be a traffic violation. uppeople who were scooped and will be deported are for traffic violations. bothuld be for not having lights working in the back of your car. what they could also go to your house and say we have come to get you. by the way, who are you and who are you? others may have no

violation other than a violation of status. law and is breaking the they scooped them up as well. that is not prosecutorial discretion. that is a raid. that is a raid. we have to fight this. people atto hire more the border, this or that. it is very hard to have a capacity to get many more people to get what they want to do. with they want to have them there, we want to make sure the people coming through have the rights protection. once they step on this soil they are part of the entities that we give anybody who is in our country. [applause] so, it is not only -- caucus from people coming from other countries. the asian-pacific community,

other countries and the rest. this is who we are as a country, what it means for us to respect the dignity and worth of people here. , fromct that right now what they are doing, which is a change from what president obama makes 11 million people eligible for deportation. it is not about prosecutorial discretion, is a have stretched that these -- discretion to include violation of status. it is just plain wrong. did you love the day that people did not show up at restaurants? was that great? was that great? [applause] rep. pelosi: that takes us back to public sentiment. we had an event for democrats in washington thursday night. we arelled us and said losing all of these today.

do you still want to come, we will make it not a sitdown dinner but more of a reception? we said that is fine. they told us we are paying all these people for today. immigrantsng all the who did not come in. [applause] rep. pelosi: in any event, when we are talking about who we are as a country, our founders sacrificed a lot. their lives, their liberty, to create a country that was built on respect for people. in their founding documents they talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. here we are in terms of health care, a healthier life, the , not to be chained to a policy or a job because you have a pre-existing condition -- life, liberty to pursue your happiness. that is, not to be chained to a

policy or a job part of our fo's dream for our country. part of that dream was to make the future better for every generation. every family wants to make the future better for the next generation. that became known as the american dream. people flock to our shores to make the future better for their families. all of the newcomers who came to america with that determination, that optimism, that courage to make the future better, honoring the founder's wish, all those newcomers make america more american, and we have to embrace and we'll go forward, was have. i thank you all for coming today for a day of action, but it is just an ongoing -- and we will be like a kaleidoscope. sometimes we will be in one design, other times health-care-specific kinds of initiatives, other times protecting a woman's right to choose -- the nerve of them.

[applause] rep. pelosi: so many of you have come to our meetings, and we , we had about gun safety talked about gun safety and ending violence in our community , but knowing that we have a fight in washington, because that is a health care issue as well. the national epidemic of guns. i will be here and answer any questions you may have individually, but i thank all of you for the leadership that you provide in our community in so many ways. i know that many of you are parts of organizations that have worked very hard for progress, helped change public policy. what we want to do in the partisan,s not to be but make sure that we hold all politicians accountable. [applause] say, ifosi: if we can

the republicans want to support what we are doing, that is good, is that will be important to people. theither have to change minds of people who are voting against us, or change them in office. whatever it is, let's hope it will be a victory for the american people. but that is another day to talk politics. right now today we just have to get them to change their minds about the affordable care act and what it means, and it will be a fight to the finish because this is right up there with ,edicare, social security economic and health security for our families. one thing we do not do -- we do not agonize, we organize. are you ready for that? thank you all very much. [applause] thankelosi: i want to secretary dooley, dr. ehrlich, all our presenters, and we thank all of you. thank you.

in a new political poll shall meet with the tin is becoming more popular with 2010 health-care law becoming more popular. is little there consensus on what congress and the trump administration should do next. only 12% want to keep the law in place while 24% want to repeal it entirely. there is a sharp divide between the 27% who want to repeal parts of the law but not all of it and the 26% who want to expand the existing law. read more at politico.com. president trump spoke briefly today to the press about his budget priorities before a meeting with the white house and staff.ently confirmed here is a look.